The Power and the Glory Read online

  Brady’s eyebrows went up. “Ah, Aspyn …”

  She held her arm out, dangling the other empty cuff as a dare. Without missing a beat, Brady slipped his wrist in and it snicked shut. “Hmm, this feels oddly familiar.”

  “But this won’t.” Aspyn slid off the table and straddled him in the chair. “Now, is there something you want to tell me?” she asked as she put her mouth on his neck and nipped gently.

  “Yeah,” Brady whispered. “I don’t have the keys.”

  EPILOGUE

  “I CAN’T believe I let you talk me into this.” Aspyn paced beside Brady, stopping every so often to peek around the door at the guests eyeballing each other warily across the aisle.

  “The wedding? It took me over a year to get you to this point. It’s not like we’re rushing into anything,” he teased. Aspyn hadn’t been kidding about her philosophical objections to marriage. He was now ready to manage any campaign out there—nothing could be harder than the campaign to get Aspyn to agree to marry him. She’d moved into his life in every possible way, but getting her to the altar … Even Nana had come to accept the idea that her future great-grandchildren would be born out of wedlock before Aspyn had a complete change of mind.

  “We should have eloped. This is going to be a disaster.”

  “No chance. My grandmother would never allow a Marshall wedding to be less than perfect—even if you did only give her a month to put it together.” Aspyn had finally said “yes” at Thanksgiving and declared she wanted a Christmas wedding. Knowing Aspyn, she’d timed it this way in the hope the general holiday madness would have led their wedding to be a smaller, more low-key affair.

  He’d wondered how Aspyn had managed to be a part of his family for over a year and not realized there was no chance in hell Nana would let this wedding be small or low-key no matter how quickly it had to be planned. Nana made things happen.

  Aspyn cut her eyes at him. “Your grandmother has never planned a wedding where a protest march could break out at any second. There are nine current or former members of Congress in there—not even counting the ones in your bloodline. Hell, your entire side of the aisle has Capitol Hill parking passes.”

  “And your side of the aisle just marches on Washington on occasion.”

  Aspyn spun and the small silver bells attached to her bouquet jingled. “Make jokes. Go ahead. When our first dance is to ‘We Shall Overcome’ because they’ve staged an impromptu sit-in, don’t blame me.”

  “Breathe, Aspyn. It’s going to be fine.”

  “Hoping for a Christmas miracle, are you?”

  “Hey, you’re standing here in a wedding dress. I’d call that pretty miraculous.” Aspyn smacked him halfheartedly. He adjusted the greenery in her hair, tucking in a curl that had come loose during her pacing. “You look beautiful, you know.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thank you.”

  “And if they get too rowdy, I have these.” He pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket.

  “You brought handcuffs to our wedding?” she whispered, frantically looking around for witnesses. Then she snatched them out of his hand and shoved them back in his pocket.

  “Just wanted to be prepared in case you got cold feet.”

  “My feet are toasty warm, thanks very much. I’m not backing out now.”

  Safe in the knowledge he was almost home free, Brady let himself ask the question he’d been keeping to himself the last few weeks. “What did finally make you change your mind?”

  She smiled up at him. “Because I chose you. Not only for today, but every day for the rest of my life. And I want everyone to know that.” The smile took on an edge as she shrugged. “Either that, or your mainstream, establishment values have totally corrupted me,” she teased.

  He laughed out loud. “Whatever works. I don’t care how or why as long as you make it down that aisle to say ‘I do.’”

  Aspyn grinned and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Besides,” she added, “I didn’t know what else to get you for Christmas. You’re impossible to shop for, you know.”

  “I guess I’ll return your present then. It’s a pity.” He shook his head. “You would have loved it.”

  “I don’t need another present.” Aspyn wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. “I have you, and I know I love that.”

  He pulled her closer and lowered his head so their lips were only inches apart. “Well, when you put it that way …”

  “Can’t you two wait a few more minutes until you’re legal?” Finn rounded the corner with Ethan and Lily on his heels.

  “What are you two doing?” Lily huffed disapprovingly at them. “You’re not supposed to see each other before the wedding.” She turned to Finn and frowned. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on him.”

  “I only turned my back for a minute. It’s not my fault he can’t leave her alone.” Finn winked at Aspyn. “Not that I blame him at all, of course.”

  “First Lily and now Aspyn?” Ethan elbowed his younger brother. “Why don’t you find your own girl and leave ours alone.”

  “I think that’s an excellent idea, Finn.” Nana’s voice caused them all to jump like guilty teenagers, and they turned to see Nana and the Breedloves waiting next to the door.

  Finn frowned before throwing an elbow into Ethan with a mumbled, “Thanks.” Brady bit back a laugh. Like Nana needed any more reason to harp on Finn—with first Ethan and now him getting married, there would be nowhere for Finn to hide now.

  Nana sent a sharp look in their direction. “Behave, you two,” she warned. “Go find your grandfather and take your places. Lily, you, too. Brady, get your hands off Aspyn and go with your brothers.”

  Aspyn was biting back a smile of her own. Aware of his audience, Brady settled for dropping a chaste kiss on Aspyn’s cheek. “See you in a minute.”

  He left her to the fussing of her parents, who didn’t seem to have any problem with Aspyn doing something so “establishment” or “conformist” as getting married. In fact, her father had mentioned something last night about him and Lydia possibly making it legal after thirty-two years. He couldn’t wait to see Aspyn’s reaction to that little nugget of information.

  His chuckle was abruptly cut off by Nana’s crisp and horrified “Brady Mason Marshall.” She’d noticed. After the whole no-tie debacle, he’d kept the rest of his wardrobe choices to himself, holding on to the vain hope she wouldn’t notice until it was too late. No such luck. Nana noticed everything.

  “What on earth are you wearing?”

  Brady took her arm gently and led her down the aisle. She wouldn’t make a scene in front of the guests. “You see, Nana, there are these wild tiger habitats …”

  Aspyn had to hand it to Regina Marshall. The woman could plan a wedding. Oh, there was an official wedding planner around here somewhere, but Aspyn knew who was really pulling the strings.

  The music changed—giving Aspyn her cue—but she took a second just to take it all in. While she’d originally hoped for something small with minimal fuss, she was now glad that Brady’s grandmother had insisted on pulling out all the stops. A friend of their family’s had opened their summer house for her wedding, giving the gathering an intimate feel—even with over a hundred guests in attendance. Floor-to-ceiling windows faced Chesapeake Bay, and the weak wintery sunshine managed to sparkle on the water, providing a magical backdrop to Brady standing there next to the judge he’d just helped get reelected.

  In a way, she wished she had been able to have the wedding on the beach, with the sand between her toes and the sunshine in her face, but waiting another six months for the weather to cooperate wasn’t an option. Instead they’d managed to bring the outdoors in, and the smell of evergreens filled her nose. The room had a festive winter feel, without looking too Christmassy; it was elegant without being formal and stiff.

  The wedding was an odd compromise between the mainstream and the fringe—just like she and Brady. She never dreamed she’d
get married at all, much less to someone like him. But Brady was the yin to her yang; an opposite that made her complete. It kept things interesting, yet comfortable.

  And while her connection to the Marshall family had opened all kinds of doors to her, they weren’t along the path she’d planned because there were ethical problems of lobbying to people you were about to be related to by marriage. But, if she’d learned anything at all from being with Brady, it was the importance of the bigger picture. Changing the approach wasn’t bad as long as the goal stayed in sight.

  Right now, her goal was at the end of a long red carpet that ran between factions so at odds they almost needed treaties and accords just to get them in the same room. It was funny: she’d been so worried all morning about a riot breaking out, but now her perspective shifted to more important things.

  Today was her wedding day, and she wanted nothing more than to marry Brady and tie that knot just as tight as it could possibly go.

  Brady raised an eyebrow at her, and Aspyn realized she’d been standing there a moment too long. Somehow she didn’t doubt Brady would come up the aisle and handcuff her if she didn’t get moving soon. That would definitely liven things up. He visibly relaxed once she took a step in his direction.

  She hadn’t been kidding when she told Brady she already had what she wanted for Christmas. She, Aspyn Breedlove—soon-to-be-Marshall—had somehow ended up getting everything she’d never wanted in life. That was one heck of a surprise present.

  The even bigger surprise? She couldn’t be happier.

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  First published in Great Britain 2011

  by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Kimberly Kerr 2011

  ISBN: 978-1-408-92010-7

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Praise for Kimberly Lang:

  About the Author

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Copyright